US sailors who helped the quake-stricken Japanese as part of “Operation Tomodachi” are now suing them for exposing them to radiation.

8 sailors from the US carrier “Ronald Reagan” who participated in the US military’s “Operation Tomodachi” efforts to aid beleaguered areas are suing the operators of the plant which spewed radiation over western Japan, alleging they have all potentially suffered horrendous radiation poisoning.

They say the Japanese government and the plant’s operator TEPCO (now semi-nationalised as the price for getting out of similar lawsuits) lied about the radiation dangers the plant’s open reactors posed, and consequently caused them to be deployed into unsafe areas.

They are demanding $10 million in compensation for a “lifetime of radiation poisoning and suffering,” along with a further $30 million for allegedly covering up the extent of the disaster, and for good measure another $100 million to provide for any future medical expenses.

TEPCO have so far declined to comment on the litigation, saying they have yet to see the details.

As nobody has formally been held accountable for the nuclear disaster in Japan, let alone actually punished, there does not seem to be much chance of Japanese authorities going along with the suit – nor of much of a payout should Japan’s stingy courts be involved.

So far there have been no confirmed incidences of radiation related health damage as a result of the disaster, although of course large tracts of the prefecture remain indefinitely evacuated precisely as a precaution against this.

Most of the fallout in fact seems now to be poisoning the reputation of the US in Japan:

“Who needs friends like these…”

“Shouldn’t they be suing the US military rather than TEPCO?”

“So this is the real reason for Operation Tomodachi!”

“All for nothing now.”

“Operation Extortion.”

“So the Yanks were just pretending to be our friends all along… How very American.”

“Gangster diplomacy, as usual.”

“This is horrible…”

“And just one idiot can ruin the whole thing. You hairy barbarians, call yourselves our friends!?”

“I would have thought the US military were far better informed about what was going on than anyone else.”

“Nobody would believe they didn’t know exactly what was happening with all their drones and spies.”

“Thank goodness for this alliance!”

“If they actually win this it could open the floodgates for people to get real compensation here as well. Good luck, I hope you get the bastards!”

“What does anyone expect from Americans and their love of lawsuits?”

“How much injury does it take to be considered a victim? Full paralysis?”

“Japanese are weak to foreign pressure. For the sake of the victims here, I hope they win.”

“This lawsuit is to be expected! The naive Japanese played right into the hands of the nuclear power camp.”

“The case is being brought in a US federal court. Somehow I expect they will have trouble enforcing claims made against a Japanese regional power utility.”

Why does nobody get that this is a PRIVATE lawsuit. It's not America suing Japan. It's 8 dudes suing 1 company. This shouldn't be a diplomatic issue, but it is because nobody recognizes this including the politicians (of both sides) that should know better. This lawsuit has NO reflection on the American government whatsoever. If the soldiers were Canadian would this even be news?

These guys were there performing legally given assignments by their direct superiors. In other words the US Government. They swore an oath to do just that. Upon swearing that oath you give up the right to sue privately in military matters. It's not as if they were suing about a privately owned lemon car or a defective TV.
The whole lawsuit is ridiculous. Too many TV shows or bad advice I think. If you don't want to be put at risk don't join the military. No one broke their arms to enlist. Too many people join and expect nothing bad to happen.

In accordance with the Feres doctrine, U.S. military personnel on active duty give up the right to sue the U.S. military. The doctrine does not extend to protecting private firms from suit by U.S. military personnel. However, I doubt that the American military personnel have any chance of a successful suit anyway. Once their superior officers gave the orders to move into the area, they would have had to comply regardless of how hazardous the conditions in the area were.

There's a pretty big difference between being put at risk, and being told you're not in any discernible danger when in reality you're being irradiated. Had they known that they would have been better outfitted to operate in a more radioactive zone.

Not to mention barely anyone in affected in Japan has been able to get any compensation from either this company, or the government. If they get even one yen from this law suit it'll open up the gates to let all the people who have lost their entire home due to this disaster reap some compensation.

Tepco told dying people to suck it up and won't compensate them for their pain and suffering and all of the people that are dead and dying thanks to their corruption.

You'll lie down and take your corporate sponsored buttfucking like a good civilized little bitch unlike those evil hairy barbarians who have the nerve to be angry when they're lied to about something that's now going to kill them.

Fuck you you dickless cowardly corporate asslicker.

I'd keep insulting you but a ceo wants to ream someones asshole until they bleed to death, I think that's the job of a bootlicking little bitch like you.

Oil doesn't cause your skin or body to melt or your hair to fall out, unlike what radiation does. Maybe you should have went there and re-experience puberty again of being a hairless/dick-less Canadian, Eh?

See what happen? People suing a private entity because they in tandem with the Japanese government downplayed the severity of this disaster leading people to be unnecessarily exposed to elevated levels of radiation?

If that's not a legitimate reason to attempt to sue someone I don't know what is.

If this/were a class action lawsuit, and all that money were going to be distributed among all the survivors or go into some sort of a dedicated government held account, where American soldiers that got sick from radiation poisoning could apply for compensation for treatment and perhaps some lost productivity, I could see 140 million being a fair, for all the soldiers exposed.

140$ for eight people, soldiers or not, is sky high and worthy or ridicule.

Actuly tehy should be sueing the japanese gov. The government failed by accepting the plants owners radiation readings and should have had tehir own people monitoring as well assuming they as well werent covering up the real data which would be even worse.

Ha! that's hypocrisy at it's finest: I helped your country because of my will to be helpful to others, understanding the risks that the decision carries upon, now because your country has damaged my health, I will forget the solidarity and goodwill of my actions and sue whoever the fuck I could find as a culprit to get some retribution.

You do understand that Japan, and by that i mean its figureheads and representatives, is openly lying, down-playing and otherwise ignoring the whole extent of this catastrophe?

You understand that the real victims, the former residents of those devastated regions in Japan now live in inhumane conditions and are practically ostracized from the rest of their society because of uneducated prejudice and fear?

You do understand that nothing, absolutely nothing has changed about the practices and leadership of those who were responsible for this fiasco?

You do understand that the vast majority of those "cleaning up" that mess on site are former long-time unemployed, under-qualified, leased/temporary workers who, for all intents and purposes, aren't even reimbursed with a fitting wage to the fact that they are most likely going to die really soon.

You do understand that people, living in the affected regions, who want to leave their homes behind and ask for the governments help in relocation are completely brushed aside?

The list of what you should understand goes on and on and on and it should really tell you that sueing this "friend" is the least that should be done, to be honest.

No you see there are various facts about radiation, and the fact is that the dose I'd get camping outside the Fukushima plant would be lower than the dose I'd get camping in certain parts of Cornwall for a comparable amount of time.

I can't camp outside the plant because paranoid idiots who don't know anything about radiation ramble on at the slightest provocation. Generally sponsored by less then true propaganda from the Anti-Nuclear weapons groups and the fossil power groups. You're generally more at risk from an old fashioned glow in the dark watch.

There's an industry built on top of nuclear scare mongering plus 50 odd years of misinformation and a general lack of education.

Technically they are in the right here, cause if the US military was told by the company the real danger (they were relying on the company for accurate info) then those personal sent in would have had proper protective gear

Except the Navy gives dosimeters to those crew who would be exposed to radiation in order to monitor their exposure (like any nukes and everyone on subs). The Navy is aware of how much they were exposed to and are responsible for sending them back even if they've taken too much.

When they enlisted into the US NAVY the soldiers knew they were going to lose a arm, become blind, or be exposed to nuclear warefare. Japan won't have to pay a dime, the US gov will compensate for their health expenses.

They were probably under orders which means they have no one to complain to except their own chain of command. I was a Marine and I know I did not join expecting to never face danger and hazards. People are fucked up and a small group want to try and profit off of the situation. A nuclear plant had just melted down; they knew what they were getting into. Welcome to the human race.

We as Americans have such a poor image with the rest of the world. This is not going to help. However, if the reactor issues were due to errors of the plants employees instead of the earthquake, I think they should burn in one form or another, probably better at the hands of the Japanese that suffered from the event as they are the ones who have to live with it now.

actually the japanese gave up before the nukes were dropped, it was a mis-translation on the americans side that brought about the bombing.

The americans informed the japanese to give up or feel their wrath and the japanese replyed with a simple "we will surrender" and it was translated to "we'll not surrender" but hey why put that in the history books???